August is well and truly underway and with that comes another of my roundup posts. I feel like I need to preface this post and apologise if things are a bit lackluster on the blog front. I'll try my hardest to keep things consistent but at the moment I'm still trying to suss out how to manage my time outside of work. Bear with me! Anyway, five things for August; a magazine discovery, a makeup marvel, podcast finery and more...

The Sunday Girl: After bemoaning the lack of magazine outlets in Auckland CBD, I discovered a newsagents close to my work that has quite the selection. Props to those of you on Twitter who pointed me in the direction of it. I grabbed the latest issue of Glamour UK (August) and also The Sunday Girl, pictured. The latter is one I've spied on Liv's many channels and liked the look of. From the quick flick-through I had on my afternoon tea break, it looks super promising. Check out their site here and their dreamy Instagram feed here. 

Saying hello to Mecca Maxima+Mecca Max: In case you missed it, Mecca Maxima landed in Auckland last week and sent a range of beauty lovers into an excitable frenzy. Case in point, whenever I've walked past at lunchtime this week and even after work, the store has been filled to the brim with people. I'm sure you don't need me to tell you why having a Mecca Maxima around is a good/perhaps dangerous thing. Along with last week's launch which coincidentally fell on my birthday, Mecca Max, the new and extensive brand dropped. I still haven't had a chance to look at this range properly, see previous sentences but I did pick up the light bronzer. It's all reasonably affordable and the branding+thought behind the entire line is definitely worth noting. 

Podcast Loves: To break up the work day a bit I alternate between listening to music and podcasts every now and again. Solange, Lorde & Florence+The Machine are my go-to for music whilst I work. Podcast wise-I basically search for people/guests I want to listen to and go from there but I have found a podcast I really love. Glamour mag's Hey It's Ok is one of my favourites. Start with Jennifer Saunders' episode. You're welcome. I also recommend the Penguin UK podcast episode with Alexandra Shulman and Richard E Grant. So. Good. Last but not least, this episode with Scarlett Curtis on Emma Gannon's podcast is worth a listen.

Zoe and Morgan: I've been obsessed with Zoe and Morgan's gorgeous pieces for a while and was lucky enough to receive this for my birthday. Okay there was some very unsubtle hinting involved. I love it so, so much. It gives me Stevie Nicks vibes, never a bad thing and because it was a birthday gift it has that sentimentality attached to it too. Good luck getting me to wear any other necklaces now. 

Books & Things: So you may have noticed book blogging has really taken a backseat lately. In fact my last book post was nearly a month ago (!). Whoops. So just a quick PSA, the book blogging is still a thing. In fact I have a book themed post coming Monday. If you ever want more of a glimpse into what I'm reading, you can check out my bookstagram, which is dedicated mostly to books, naturally. You'll also find the odd Rory Gilmore picture that seem to attract a ton of likes, a mystery to me. 

Why hello and happy Wednesday. Academia is slowly eating my brain so today I have a list of experiences and digital things I have been loving lately. Netflix, creative women and fabulous drag queens, there's something for everybody...

The return of Lorelai and Rory-Advanced apologies if I become that person who gets far too overexcited about the four episodes of Gilmore Girls coming to Netflix. In fact, I know I will be that person because I am already excited. It's basically like a pre-Christmas for me and is going to soften the blow of Summer School. Anyway, naturally the pop culture hub that is Buzzfeed are excited too and compiled this list of the must-have foods we need to make our Netflix experience more Lorelai and Rory worthy. While some may be a bit harder to track down in the Southern Hemisphere, you can sure as heck bet I will be loading up on American snacks and coffee. 

Beauty adventures and free sample paradise-Rosalind Jana is fast becoming one of my favourite writers and I really enjoyed this piece she penned about makeup in her adolescence and the beauty bag of treasures she obtained from the magazines. It made me nostalgic and also made me smile as I reminisced about the similar habits I had back in the days. If you've grown up loving beauty and the tools that accompany it, you'll relate to this.

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert-Last week I was lucky enough to attend the first show of Priscilla's return season here in Auckland* and oh my goodness, it did not disappoint. It is safe to say Lucie and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, as did the rest of the audience. I have never seen an audience come alive like that during a show. It was something else. It's had a bit of a makeover this time around, I think it is closer to the Broadway adaptation than the original Australian production but I like that. It gives it new life and colour, especially with the updated soundtrack. It is just as hilarious, just as fun and just as amazing, especially in the costume stakes. If you want a fun night out, it's on until the 13th of November so go see it. You will not regret it. 

Haters Back Off-This is turning into a bit of a Netflix love letter unintentionally. Miranda Sings aka Colleen Ballinger's new series debuted at the end of last week and I am loving it. Honestly at first I thought it was going to be a bit of a letdown and I have only watched two episodes thus far but I am loving them. It's lighthearted, funny and just really cleverly done. Colleen and everyone else involved have done an awesome job. If you're a Mirfanda and there are a lot of them out there now, you need to see this. Do it. 

Mara Wilson in conversation with Emma Gannon-Mara Wilson's written what is easily one of my favourite books of the year and I loved Emma Gannon's too. What happens when you put two inspiring women like this together is all kinds of magic. Emma interviewed Mara ahead of her book's release and the conversation is well worth a listen. If you are not already subscribed to this podcast, I highly suggest you change that. 

-What have you been loving lately?

*Tickets provided c/o Auckland Live.

Book #2 for Sophie's Book Club was a collection of essays by the wonderful lady I have a bit of a blogger girl crush on. Yes there are a few people who fit this bill but today I am referring to the one and only Emma Gannon, author of the blog Girl Lost In The City. As well as running a rather radtastic, inspiring blog, she also has a podcast under the same name as her book and contributes writing to many other places on and offline such as; Teen Vogue, The Sunday Times magazine, The Guardian and many others. She is a boss basically. When I heard she was releasing a book I swiftly pre-ordered it and was so pleased that people voted for it in my book club's polls. So what did I think? Well in one sentence: I loved it. End of review. I jest, keep reading if you want the full details.

Ctrl Alt; Delete is a series of essays about Emma's experiences and learnings growing up online. She was born in the year the Internet came to fruition so she literally grew up alongside the Internet. Every social media platform you can think of; LiveJournal, MySpace, Bebo, you name it, she was on there. As well as her early learnings on discovering the expanse that is the Web, she also details her experiences of relationships and how they are shaped/misconstrued by the Internet, how it has helped her forge a career path, the power of deceptive photography and more. It might only be 258 pages but there is a lot of ground covered here.

A lot of the material in this book stood out to me, especially Emma's writing on blogging. "The reason my blog makes me so happy, when it comes down to it, is the freedom it brings me...I can always mentally escape on my blog even if I can't physically. Diving into my blog often feels like the bit in Mary Poppins where Bert and the kids all jump into the street painting, holding umbrellas in the rain...eating toffee apples and loving life." This idea really resonated with me, the creative control my blog gives me, this corner of the Internet that is all mine, makes me so happy. I don't think non-Internet people will really grasp that idea but it honestly does. The escapism it provides as well is also so satisfying. The recognition as well, which she talks about, no matter how big or small is also amazing. I still get such a buzz when somebody tells me they've read something I wrote and like it, or just that they love my blog. That's probably my inner peacock coming out but us creative folk love praise. 

Emma's writing on the MSN years was also uber relatable too. I cringed as much as I laughed and sympathised with her tales. While MSN certainly had some downsides, I experienced some rather nasty bullying on it through a couple of group chats, I also made some of my closest friends through hour-long MSN conversations. Social media is such a double-edged sword like that isn't it? 

Ctrl Alt; Delete is a book every millennial and Internet loving person needs to read. Even if you're not a big Internet person you still need to read it. Scratch that, everybody needs to read this book. It's so relatable, laugh-out-loud funny and also incredibly inspiring and thought provoking. Emma is such a gifted writer and this book was such a strong debut. I can't wait to see what she does next. I gave this 4/5 stars over on Goodreads for anyone wondering, but I may have to go back and amend my review to make it 5 stars. I loved this book that much.

If you're wondering what the next few months of Sophie's book club are looking like, for September we will be reading The Lonely City by Olivia Laing. This book has been getting some promising reviews, and if this is anything to go by we are in for a treat. October sees two books up for the reading. By no means do you have to read both of them. I just wanted to introduce a book to sit alongside the collections of essays by Mara Wilson, entitled Where am I Now? . The second book for October is Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur. It's another book I have only heard positive things about and I am looking forward to reading Kaur's poetry.

-Have you read Ctrl Alt; Delete? What did you think of it?

April, you awesome, Autumnal thing. It's hard to believe how fast April has disappeared. I say that every month but it feels like this month truly was the busiest. Thankfully it hasn't impacted my ability to select some monthly favourites and wax lyrical about them. Consider yourselves blessed, I'm kidding guys. There's a couple of books in the mix, a scent, some high-end beauty loves and even a podcast in there for good measure. Enjoy, and be sure to leave me a comment telling me what you've loved this month. I'd love to hear what's taken your fancy...

Moranifesto* by Caitlin Moran-This book, this woman. I loved my introduction to Caitlin Moran's writing. So much that I'm now reading How To Be A Woman and have Moranthology sitting in my stack of library books. Moranifesto is crammed with Moran's columns for the Times paper as well as some new pieces she penned especially for the book. There's writing on topics ranging from a visit to the set of Girls with Lena Dunham, to the ongoing refugee crisis. She's equal parts frank and funny in her writing and I love it. 

Estee Lauder Double Wear Waterproof Concealer*-The name of this concealer was enough to have me interested and it does not disappoint. It's not too thick and it's easy enough to layer up if you want to really conceal any blemishes or imperfections. As to its waterproof properties, I can't vouch for that but it is fairly long-wearing indeed.

Dior Addict Lip Glow-On low-key makeup days, in other words most days I like to throw a decent lip balm on to keep my lips hydrated. It also comes in handy if I want to pretend I've made an effort with makeup, especially if it's tinted like this one. I also like to apply lip balm before I put any lipstick on, especially mattes. It just seems to make lip products adhere better to the lips. This Dior one is a kinda crazy coral colour but it's one of those products that adjusts to the colour of your lips, via some form of magic. I'm not a scientist okay guys? I like it, and if you're in the market for a slightly indulgent lip product, this is for you.

Ctrl Alt Delete Podcast x Emma Gannon-This podcast was touched on in my video the other day so I'll try to keep my Emma fangirling to a non-crazy level of admiration. She's just started up a podcast and it's so, so good. It follows women (and some men) as they discuss their careers and their relationship with the internet and all the inspirational things. One of my favourite interviews is the one she's done with Rowan Blanchard, such an inspiring young lady. The episode with Dawn O'Porter, which I'm listening to at the moment is brilliant as well. Highly recommend you give this a listen if you're interested in hearing other creatives share their amazing stories.

-Images from: here and here

2016 is shaping up to be a pretty promising year on the reading side of things. There's some exciting new novels and non-fiction reads that have me excited like Leslie Knope when she's presented with friendship waffles. This is only a small selection, but no doubt you will see the rest of them in posts throughout the year. So without further ado, here's some books that are coming out in 2016 that I am quite eager to get into reading...